Yacht basin copper rules raise questions

Poncho Garcia applies a silicone-epoxy coating on the hull of a 32-foot long sailboat at the Shelter Island Boatyard. The silicone-epoxy coating is being used instead of a copper based coating known to be harmful to marine life.
— Howard Lipin

Poncho Garcia applies a silicone-epoxy coating on the hull of a 32-foot long sailboat at the Shelter Island Boatyard. The silicone-epoxy coating is being used instead of a copper based coating known to be harmful to marine life.
— Howard Lipin

The Shelter Island Yacht Basin is under orders by regulators to reduce copper in its water to a level about 300 times lower than is permitted in drinking water.

The contrast has some critics questioning whether the rule, which is causing boat owners to repaint their hulls with copper-free coatings, is another example of environmental rules going too far.

“If I filled my pool with drinking water, my kids would have a much higher concentration in my pool, than if they were swimming in the bay,” said Port Commissioner Dan Malcolm. “It seems a little odd to me. It doesn’t seem logical.”

Scientists and water regulators say, however, that the disparity between marine rules and drinking water standards reflects the complexities of copper’s reaction in different water conditions, and in different species.

The lower copper levels are needed to protect shellfish, they say. To those organisms, the common metal is poison, lethal at amounts that are trifling to humans, they say.

“The lower on the food chain, the more damage you’ll have,” said Jeremy Haas, environmental program manager for the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board, which imposed the rule. “They are more sensitive to those metals (than people are.)”

Protected spots such as Shelter Island have low water flow and high copper buildup, while variations in local water chemistry can affect the metal’s toxicity to sea life.

Water quality rules consider all those factors, said David King, a San Diego attorney who served on the water board from 2006 to 2010.

“Does it sound silly that you’ve got a lower level of copper in the bay than drinking water?” King said. “Sure, but not when you consider what we’re trying to do is keep the bay from being a toxic environment to marine life.”

With a recent $600,000 grant from the State Water Resources Control Board, the San Diego Port Authority aims to nudge Shelter Island boat owners to convert from copper-based paint, used to retard barnacle growth, to newer alternatives. The port also converted its own fleet to copper-free paint last year.

Some boaters say the copper rule goes overboard, arguing that the replacement paints are costly and hard to maintain.

“It’s just very expensive, it’s not diver-friendly and it’s not boatyard friendly,” said Bill Roberts, owner of Shelter Island Boatyard, which handles some of the repainting jobs.

The Shelter Island basin, tucked in the northwest end of the bay, is one of eight marinas in the bay listed as impaired under the Clean Water Act because of elevated copper levels, according to the port authority. It’s the only one, however, under orders to reduce the concentration of copper in its waters.

In 2011, the port measured copper off Shelter Island at 8.3 parts per billion — more than twice the target level of 3.1 parts per billion.

By contrast, the water board limits drinking water to 1,000 parts per billion of copper, a level that protects its taste, odor and color. It would take more than that to sicken a person, officials said.